Lily Bee Sketch #8 and Sarahs Cards challenge

Just a quick post as I wanted to upload a couple of photos for challenges. I thought I might do it this afternoon whilst Matthew was asleep but Matthew had different plans!!! Ive also been out for a meal this evening as my lovely friend Karen is moving away so it is well past my normal bedtime but blogging is coming before sleeping tonight!

The first layout is one you've seen before which is for the Sarah's cards blog challenge this month. But each time Ive looked at it Ive not been quite happy and felt like it needed more so Ive added a border of purple paper pearls around the large hexagons, a couple of butterflies and their trails and two resin flowers and Im much happier now.  ( The collection is Lily Bee Victoria Park and the photo is my mum and Matthew when we went to visit the flower exhibit at Wisley in February.)

The second layout is for the Lily Bee sketch challenge this month. Obviously it uses Lily Bee - this time the Double Dutch collection and a picture of Matthew on his birthday. I love the colours.

Matthew's Birthday Part 2

On Sunday 22nd April Matthew was 2. I cant believe how fast he is growing up. He wants to do so many things that adults do. His speech and understanding astounds me every day. He is changing so much. We are so lucky. He is such a happy boy. Being a mummmy can be hard work sometimes, I stuggle sometimes when I havent had much sleep and Im always worrying about doing the right thing, but this little chap has changed my life and Simon and I love him so much. Im looking forward to spending many happy years with him and doing so many exciting things.

On his birthday we spent the morning at home opening his presents from Simon and I. Then Simon took him to his swimming lesson. After his afternoon nap we went to our friends whose little girl Eva was born on the same day as Matthew. We are very lucky to have them as friends. Dan and Simon went to school together, Helen and I have become good friends and love nothing better than a cuppa together and a good chat and Matthew loves their two older boys Ben and Josh. I hope Eva and Matthew will be good friends.

Here are some photos of the day.

Wooden train set from Mummy and Daddy

Birthday breakfast

Quick photo shoot in the garden



Birthday cake

Eva does a great job of blowing out her candles!

More presents!

The birthday boy and girl! Smile!!!

Matthew's Birthday - Part 1

The day before Matthew's birthday we had close family round for breakfast. We has a lovely breakfast of beans, sausages, bacon, scrambled eggs and toast and then he opened his presents from them. Fortunately the sun was shining so he was able to go outside with some of his new things. After a sleep we went to the third 2nd birthday party of the month for Nathan. It was at the soft play at Sutton Arena and it was great fun.

Happy boy!

Laptop from Auntie Lyndsey

Wow - tractor from Gran and Grandad

Men at work - building the playhouse

Getting a ride from Auntie Lyndsey whilst waiting for the house to be built.

Trying to help out!

When is the roof going on?

Yes - half a roof!

Cuppa?

A quiet few minutes.

Martha and Bec at the party

The birthday party boy.

So sweet!

Nathan and Lisa

Shimelle's Challenges 03- Mixing styles

On Thursday night I enjoyed a pleasurable evening with some of my scrapping friends at Gaye's house. I decided that I would use the time to complete another of Shimelle' challenge. I was intrigued by the challenge to mix styles. I dont know if I have a style. I guess I love colour and clean lines. I like blocks of colour and pattern. I like my matching embellishments and Im not really into fussy - but I dont know if that means I have a style.

Some of my friends have taken classes with Emma Trout. Her scrapbooking is a work of art - its complicated, detailed and very different from what I produce. But I love it. So on Thursday I decided I was going to use the evening to complete just one layout a mix of Emma's style and my own. I usually hope to do 2/3 layouts over 2/3 hours dedicated to scrapbooking. I printed some examples of  Emma's work and decided I was going to add lots of details, hand cutting, and layers.

I found it an interesting challenge as I felt like I wanted to do more than one layout while I had some scrapping time. It was good to do this layout with friends as they kept me going with their positivity. So thanks to Gaye, Debbie, Ali and Leanne for their moral support. Also thanks to Debbie for the lace, Gaye for the bottle top and jewel and to Ali who inrtoduced me to paper pearls during our retreat last year and I now add to so many of my layouts (often as butterfly trails).

I used this lovely photo of our friends Karen and Bella. They are moving home soon and we are going to miss them but we were lucky enough to be able to enjoy Bella's 2nd birthday party with them.  I used some Bo Bunny Gabrielle papers. Lovely colours and very feminine.

I probably need to add a little journalling to just finish it off.

Shimelle's Challenges 04 - Colour adventure

It feels like I blogged a lot over the Easter holidays. I had more time as I was off work and I was trying to get some scrapping and challenges done. This week reality has hit and Ive had less time for scrapping and blogging. It was back to work on Tuesday and with Matthew's birthday tomorrow, his party next weekend and lots of other birthdays and parties etc to keep us busy, blogging has taken a back seat. However I have done two more challenges from Shimelle's weekend that I wanted to upload before the deadline tomorrow night.

The first is a layout I did last weekend. This was a challenge to use yellow/grey and one other colour. Im loving grey at the moment and have a few blue/yellow/grey combos but thought I would do something different. I have a great photo of Matthew wuth my cousin Lizzie where she is in grey and him in red so this was ideal for the challenge.

I used an old pieve of paper which I think maybe Sassafrass Lass, some red and grey cardstock, a jillibean journalling piece, some lily bee papers and stickers, a mix of stickers and buttons and of course some butterflies which I seem to have on every layout at the moment.

Shimelle's Challenges 02 - Mixing Papers

This was a good challenge for me. I dont mix paper ranges that often. I occasionally do and recently Ive been mixing my embellishments a lot more, but I like to scrap quite quickly and using papers from the same range helps me do that. Therefore I purposefully chose to do this challenge as I wanted to do something I know I should do more often.

I love this photo of my friend's son rockin' with his wizard hat on. I wanted to reflect the stars in the hat and the fab checked shirt and the only way to do this was with some quite bold papers.  In the end I used papers from Lily Bee, Bo Bunny, Fancy Pants, October Afternoon, Simple Stories and Studio Calico. I added some washi tape, some yellow brads ( that Ive had forever!), some stickers from October Afternoon and Simple Stories and of course some Thickers. Its a bit of a mixed bag but then that was the whole point.

Shimelle's Challenges 05 - Inspiration Points

This time the challenge was to use the layout from Wilna Furstenberg as the inspiration. It can be seen here.

This time it was the panoramic photo that inspired me and the lovely cluster of embellishment top left of the photo.

I love this photo taken at a recent university reunion. Its not the perfect shot as people are moving or not looking at the camera but thats what I love about it. Its very real!. To me it is the perfect photo.

As my Simple Stories Fabulous was out from the previous challenge I decided to use it for this layout. It was handy that some of the girls were wearing pink as these colours really pop from the photo. Im really pleased with the final layout - thanks Wilna and Shimelle.

Shimelle's Challenge 01 - Inspiration Points

This weekend Shimelle hosted a series of challenges and questions for all the readers of her blog. There were 16 challenges altogether. So far I have completed three of them but would certainly like to get a few more done this week. The first challenge I completed was challenge 01 which can be found here.

The idea was to look at the lovely page by Jaime Warren and use it as an inspiration point for your own layout. I liked the pink background, the central placement of the photo, the blocks of paper or journalling running from top to bottom and the little clusters on the sides. And of course the flowers burds  and butterfies..

I used papers from the Simple Stories Fabulous range - which is just that - FABULOUS! I love the colours and this so cute photo of little Eva pretending to be a sleeping bunny at Sing and Sign.

Back with more challenges soon. x

Its challenge time!

Firstly thank you to all my new followers. As I am now part of a design team with Gottacraft and going to be guest designer for Heidi Grace in June I am keen to get my numbers of followers up so that I can support the lovely Sandra and the talented Heidi. If you are reading and you are not yet a follower then if you think you may return then please do add yourself to my followers. I genuinely appreicate all the comments. Thank you.

As I mentioned yesterday I completed three challenges at the Thursday night crop.

The first was the Basic Grey challenge found here. It was a sketch challenge. I used these cute photos of Matthew stroking a guinea pig at Bocketts Farm. I used the lovely fresh Picadily collection for this layout.

The second was Shimelle's starting point for this week. I used Echo Park's Note to Self with a few added  Amy Tangerine embellishments. Love the red/brown/aqua theme. The photo is of Matthew with some good friends at Holmbush Farm ( yes -  we do like a farm visit!).

The final layout is the Sarah's Cards April blog challenge. I swapped the circle for a hexagon just to ix it up a little - hexagons are so fashionable at the moment. I have loads on my pinterest layouts board.  I used the Lily Bee Victoria Park collection - I just love the new Lily Bee collections.  The photo is of my Mum and Matthew during a recent visit to Wisley.

12 on the 12th and other things

Why do I blog?

One reason is because I want to keep a record of some of the little things in our lives that we may look back on. It will help with the details. Just the other day I was reading some of my old posts about Matthew's first few days and Id written that he took 1 hour 45 minutes to have  bottle - now his bedtime bottle is gone in a few minutes - he loves it!

I also like to keep a record of my scrapping and of course its a lovely way to show off your work. One of  the things I love about scrapbooking is that I do it for me and my family but it does mean that I might be the only one to see my pages ( my husband isnt that interested). But by going to crops and blogging it does mean  you get some feedback on your work and we all like a bit of praise if someone says something nice.

And I like to enter challenges. Last night I went to a crop armed with some challenges Id added to my Pinterest folder and managed to complete three layouts during the evening. By having a blog I can enter into the challenges easily. Ive been honoured to have been featured on Shimelle's favourite scrapbooking starting points twice in recent weeks. And of course a place to show any design team work Ive done.


So tomorrow I will show you the challenges but today is about blogging and recording the little things.

So yesterday was the 12th and so I take part in a 12 on the 12th photo challenge. Here are my photos ( sorry cheam croppers if you dont like them).

Top row - Debbie, New girl Helen, Jo, Sandra F
Middle row - Petra - Sandra B ( had to include this picture - sorry Sandra), Sandra again and me
Bottom row - 3 layouts and us at work ( or chatting)

What else has been happening?

Well Matthew is under the weather. He has been full of cold this week and Im sure he has a sore throat. Last night he had a high temperature, made himself sick crying and was awake for nearly 3 hours ( yes - we are tired today!) Ive taken him to the doctor and chest/ ears upper throat are clear so its probably just lower throat and we just need to dose him up with calpol and nurofen and give it a couple of days.

However, he did wake up from his lunchtime nap in time to sprint down to Toys R Us in Colliers Wood. Matthew loves Fireman Sam and when I found out he was visiting during the school holidays I had to make sure we went for a photo op. Matthew was very in awe at first, but he did get braver. Lovely photos for the future - the day Matthew met the hero next door.

Hopefully Ill be back tomorrow to show my 3 layouts from the challenges I completed last night and I hope to enter some of Shimelle's challenges too.

By the way Ive made a few changes to my blog design etc - any thoughts?

10 things on the 10th - Matthew right now!

Ten things about Matthew right now

1) He loves Fireman Sam. This obsession has been going on for sometime now. He can't tell you the name of our cat but can name the main characters in Fireman Sam. I'm taking him to see Fireman Sam at our local Toys R Us on Friday.

2) He loves the Lion King. He hasn't actually watched it all the way through - but he has seen it a couple of times. We also have a book which at bedtime he likes to read to his soft toys. Bless!

3) He is talking loads. He has a pretty good vocabulary but is now saying lots of mini sentences. At the Easter Egg hunt on Sunday he was saying Egg - where r u? Today he was saying 'very hot'. These are just two examples of his developing language skills.

4) He is obsessed with jigsaws. Loves them. He  quite an active boy but this is something he will do quietly and concentrate on. We have a few that are for three year olds and he does them easily.

5) White tiger is one of his favourite cuddly toys and he loves to change his nappy!

6) He loves going in the garden and asks to go out every time someone puts their shoes on. He has a tunnel and a tent and lots of balls. He has mini golf clubs, a rugby ball, footballs etc. A sportsman's son!

7) He is getting very independent on the stairs. We are still very cautious as our stairs have a bend in them and they are quite steep but he can pretty much do it on his own.

8) Favourite foods are pasta, mango, grapes, chocolate mousse, fish fingers, tinned baby carrots,  cheese, ham, toast (if you ask him what he wants to eat he usually says cheese/ham/toast), and of course he loves chocolate and cake.

9) Favourite songs are Baa Baa Black Sheep and the Animals went in Two by Two ( and the theme tune to Fireman Sam)

10) I'm really pleased with his developing manners. He has said please for a while now ( useful skill when you want something), but now he says Thank you, says pardon when he burps and in the last week or so has been making the sign for sorry.

And in 12 days time he will be 2 - where does the time go?

Here is a cute picture from Easter Sunday:

Lily Bee Challenge and Shimelle's starting point

Happy Easter everyone! I gave up chocolate for Lent (as did many of friends and family) and today was pleased that I could indulge in a treat. To be honest I haven't eaten very much as we have had a lovely buffet tea at my mum's and a neighbour baked us a cake so there really isn't any room, but we did get an egg at the Easter egg hunt we went to today so we have shared that. Lots more in the fridge though!

Time to share two more of my layouts from yesterday's crop.

The first is the current Lily Bee sketch challenge. I totally love all four of the new Lily Bee collections and know I will need to buy all of them but my favourite is probably Buttercup which I bought from Gottacraft. I am really liking yellow and blue right now. You can see the sketch here.

I'm really pleased with how this came out. All the papers and stickers are from the collection and I just added some golden yellow twine, some paper pearls and a couple of flowers. The photos is of three of my university friends Warren, Jeremy and Phil and Phil's wife Nora at a recent reunion. The blue clouds and sunshine fit the collection well.

The second layout is from Shimelle's Special MME Scrapbook Starting Point. The photo is from the same day and I have used MME Miss Caroline collection. I love this combination of colours - pink and aqua and I loved adding all the little brads, butterflies, flowers and tickets. A lovely starting point - thank you Shimelle.  

Basic Grey Challenge

Today was crop day. I was really looking forward to it as I didnt get to the March Saturday crop or to any of the March Thursday evening crops. Today therefore was a chance to do some  serious scrapping and a chance to catch up with the girls, and of course a trip to Starbucks and Sainsburys.

Today I completed 5 layouts. Three of them were challenges from different websites. Tonight I'm going to blog about my basic grey challenge layout. You can find the challenge here. The challenge was to use Basic Grey solid papers only. This was quite a challenge for me as I love patterned paper. However, Ive been inspired by lots of layouts recently that use geometric designs - hexagons, triangles etc. Whilst at the crop I raided my friend Sandra's punch box and was drawn to the little diamond and thought I would get punch happy with it. The girls were quite intrigued to see what I was planning as I noisely  punched away from some of my sheets of solid basic grey colours.  I used the punches to create this layout. Im pleased with the design and wouldnt have done it without Basic Grey and Sandra - so thanks to them both.

I will  post the other challenges and layouts over the next few days. Happy Easter!